


You Found Me

by Thisusernameistakenagain



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Kidnapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 07:52:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6558355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisusernameistakenagain/pseuds/Thisusernameistakenagain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie Johnston was kidnapped in the parking lot of her high school. Ten years later, Christen Press finds her in the middle of the road waving her down. Julie's going to need all the help she can get before she gets back to normal, and Christen may just be the one to do that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this up in the middle of English class because there's not enough angsty Presston. I really need to stop starting fics. Anyway... I hope you enjoy this! *WARNING: MENTIONS OF PANIC ATTACKS, BEATINGS, AND OTHER VIOLENCE WILL OCCUR IN THIS FIC. IF THESE ARE TRIGGERS FOR YOU, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS.*

Julie Johnston was only seventeen when she was kidnapped. She was attending her boyfriend’s baseball game when she was taken, and no one even noticed until it was too late. Search parties were sent out and spent a week looking for either her or her body. When they were unable to find it, the search was dropped and she was declared dead. However, she was still very much alive.

Somewhere in the middle of the woods, some creep spent a good amount of time building his own underground “layer” for the sole purpose of kidnapping women and teenage girls. It was well outside of the city along a highway that was almost always devoid of cars. No one would ever know they were there. Julie had been blindfolded the entire way there, but she could still hear the desperate cries of others that she would be held with. She was thrown in a large cage, finally having her hands untied and her blindfold removed. Her surroundings terrified her.

There had to have been at least five other cages with hers, all containing other women that seemed to have been there for a while. The only source of light was a dim lantern in the center. From what Julie could see, there looked to be another room as well and she didn't want to find out what was in it. All she could think of that could be in there were bodies, more women in cages, or some sort of torture devices she didn't even want to imagine. Though, from the sight of the women around her, the torture devices were most likely what was behind those walls. For years she called that cage in the dark layer her home, all hope, energy, and emotion drained from her, until one day she escaped.

The man who had captured all of them came by every two days with food and water for all of them. Every time he fed them, he would take one of them to the other room and do with them what he pleased. The man had been getting older and older as time went by, getting weaker and less likely to catch them if they escaped. Julie used this to her advantage when I was her turn to go into the other room and ended up knocking the man out.

She ran as fast as she could to the opening the man came through and busted through the door, revealing a wooded area. It was the first time Julie had been above ground in ten years, but luckily it was dark. The blonde took no time in reveling in the fresh air and started running away from the layer she’d just escaped. She hoped she was going the right way.

Occasionally, she would hear a car driving by and followed the sound until she stumbled upon a road. She saw headlights in the distance and ran out into the road to try and flag the car down. At this point she wasn't sure the car would stop for her and almost thought it was going to run right over her. However, the driver stopped at the sight of the barely clothed and starving blonde and Julie started crying from relief.

The woman who got out of the car had gorgeous eyes that looked full of concern for her. It was the first thing she noticed when her vision wasn’t obscured by tears.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked. It was obvious Julie wasn't okay, but she needed to start somewhere.

“No. Kidnapped. Stuck in the woods,” Julie managed between sobs.

The woman seemed to understand and attempted to help Julie into her car, only to have her protest the entire time.

“I'm Christen, let me help you. We need to get you to the hospital to have you checked out. I promise I'm not going to take you anywhere else.”

“No no no no no, I don't wanna go. Not again.”

Christen understood why Julie didn’t want to get in the car, but continued to try and coax her into the car anyway. A loud, male scream that came from the woods ended up doing the trick because, as terrified as Julie was of getting in a stranger’s car, she was even more terrified of the man. Christen seemed nice enough and hadn’t knocked her out to get her in the car like the man had so Julie got in the car. As soon as they drove off, the man burst out of the woods and they watched as he was swallowed up by the darkness of the night.

“What’s your name?” Christen asked a very fidgety Julie after a few minutes of driving.

It took a few minutes before the blonde responded. “Julie Johnston.”

Upon hearing the name, Christen slammed on her breaks and pulled off the road, scaring an already skittish Julie in the process.

The brunette apologized, “I’m sorry, it’s just… you’ve been missing for ten years. I was in college when the news came out that you were missing, the sixth one in the past six months. It made national news. Everyone was sure you were dead.” She said as she pulled back onto the road they were traveling on and resumed the trip to the hospital.

Julie was silent for the remainder of the ride, contemplating what Christen had just told her. _Ten years._ The words rang in the blonde’s ears for a long time. Ten years meant that she was twenty-seven now. Ten years meant that her boyfriend had probably long since moved on. Ten years meant that her parents thought she was dead. Ten years meant that a huge portion of her life was missing, high school graduation, college graduation, _playing soccer for the Women’s National Team,_ all missing because she was kidnapped by some guy in a parking lot. The amount of emotions running through her made her feel like she was going to explode. Arriving in the city where the hospital was sent a wave of relief through Julie. The city was where people were and people meant _safety._

Pulling into the hospital, Julie started to rethink coming with Christen. Sure, it meant she could finally have all of her cuts, burns, broken ribs, and other ailments fixed, but it also meant having to explain what happened and Julie wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t ready to relive the hell she’d apparently been through for the past ten years. Even thinking about it made her have a panic attack when Christen opened the door for her to get out.

 _Breathe. Breathe. It’s not that hard._ the blonde kept telling herself. But that was the problem, it was hard and her chest felt tighter than it should have. Tears started spilling from her eyes as flashbacks appeared in her mind of how she got all of her injuries. _Whippings. Breathe. Beatings. Breathe. Sex. Breathe. Torture. Breathe._ Julie thought she was losing her grip on all reality until she felt a hand on her knee.

She flinched at the feeling of someone touching her, bad memories only stemming from it, but soon relaxed when she heard Christen’s voice.

“Julie, you’re okay. You’re safe.”

Everything sounded like it was underwater. She could feel her hand being placed on someone’s chest. The warmth and breathing movements were very comforting.

“Try to match your breathing with mine, okay?” Christen advised and Julie did just that.

A few minutes later Julie had calmed down enough so that she could breathe normally again and her head was cleared.

“Do you feel like you can walk or do you want to stay here for a few minutes?” Christen asked.

Julie wanted to start crying again because of how gentle the brunette was being with her. No one had been that kind to her in a long time. After some consideration, Julie nodded her head and got out of the car with Christen’s help. Before they left the car, Christen took her jacket off and gave it to Julie along with some yoga pants so she could cover herself up. The blonde gladly accepted the clothing and together they made their way into the emergency room. Christen helped Julie into a chair in the waiting room before going up to the front desk to get the appropriate paperwork.

“Do you mind calling the police for me? I found a missing person, Julie Johnston,” Christen explained to the lady at the front desk.

The lady nodded and picked up the phone after handing the paperwork to Christen, who turned around and went back to sit with Julie while they wait. Julie was sitting in her chair with her knees pulled up to her chest and shivering uncontrollably. Under the bright lights inside the hospital, Christen could finally see just how worn down the kidnapping victim looked. Dark circles under her sunken eyes were vibrant on pale skin and she was painfully thin. Cuts, bruises, and filth covered her body and Christen felt bad for the girl.

Looking at the paperwork, Christen wasn’t quite sure what to fill out or how to fill it out. She’d written Julie’s name down, but couldn’t figure out what to put down for the reason they were there. When the nurses took Julie back to start the examination, she wound up just putting “several different injuries and malnourishment” on the blank lines. She hoped Julie would be okay alone and waited patiently for the blonde's return.


	2. The Officers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie is given much needed medical attention and Christen is questioned by some officers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TRIGGER WARNING*  
> MENTIONS OF TORTURE, BLOOD, BRUISES AND THE LIKE. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF ANY OF THESE ARE TRIGGERS FOR YOU.

_Before being taken from her cage for the first time, Julie was starved for several days. It was obvious that the man did this so that she would be unable to fight back and escape. It was torture for Julie to watch the other women eat their meals while she sat there starving. Well, if they could even be called meals. They were always given a piece of bread and some oatmeal laced with vitamins. It was nowhere near enough to fill their stomachs, but they weren't complaining._

_The woman in the cage to her left, Becky, was nice enough to give her a piece of bread one time. Making sure the man in the other room with Ali wouldn't notice, Julie took the bread without question. She ate it greedily and without hesitation, thanking Becky for it later. It was nowhere near satisfying, but it was something to eat. Afterwards, she curled up on her side and tried to get some sleep. However, her plans were ruined after the man came out with a bloodied Ali. He headed for Julie's cage and dragged her into the other room, despite her protests. It was the only time he ever took two people in one day._

_The man made it his goal to make sure that Julie knew how he felt about women and how they should be treated. To him, women were just pretty little animals that were his to use and abuse. He should be able to have as many women as he pleases and women were the true scum of the Earth. Julie was sure to let him know that he'd gotten his point across after several hours in the torture room. The burns, bruises, and her bloodied back wouldn't let her forget his message._

_The women in the cages surrounding the blonde couldn’t help but feel bad for her. They all remembered their first time in the other room. All hope of rescue or escape was discarded from her mind as she laid there crying to herself._

Upon hearing that Julie Johnston was found, several officers hauled ass to the hospital. They met up with and talked to Christen before even thinking about talking to the blonde. They understood that she would need to recover before reliving those traumatizing ten years. Officers Solo, Rampone, Wambach and Boxx asked Christen several questions about finding Julie. Sometime during the interrogation, a nurse came rushing into the lobby towards Christen.

“Are you the one who came with Julie?” the nurse asked. She looked pretty frazzled.

Christen nodded. “Is something wrong?”

“She started panicking when we brought her into the hospital room to check her out. We’re trying to sedate her, but she’s squirming around too much. We were hoping you could come in and calm her down so we don’t hurt her further.”

The brunette agreed and the nurse led her down the winding hospital halls. As they approached Julie’s room, Christen could hear the girl’s panicked screams. Christen picked up her pace and all but sprinted the rest of the way to Julie’s room. She approached the bed where Julie was flailing around and screaming.

“Julie!” Christen yelled to get the girl’s attention, and it worked. Julie calmed down immediately and looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

“They’re trying to hurt me,” the blonde sobbed. Christen’s heart broke at the sound. She walked over to the hospital bed Julie was in and held onto Julie’s hand. Running her fingers through tangled blonde locks, Christen tried her best to get Julie to calm down.

“No, they’re trying to help you because you’re injured and need medical attention.”

“But it hurts.”

It hurt Christen to see so much fear and pain in Julie’s eyes. She looked like a child.

“I know, sweetie, but you’ll feel so much better afterwards, I promise. Just let them sedate you, okay? It’ll make everything go away for a while.”

Julie thought about it and nodded. She just wanted everything to go away for a little bit. Christen stayed by the girl’s side until she felt the blonde's body relax. She left the room so the doctors could resume their examination.

The brunette made her way into the lobby, where the officers were waiting to ask more questions. She overheard the conversation they were having as she approached them.

“I can’t believe we didn’t think to spread the search radius that far.”

“I don’t even want to think about what that kid went through because of us.”

“How do we tell the girl her family is dead?”

“Or even better, where is she going to go when she’s released from the hospital?”

“This is all our fault.”

“I can take her home,” Christen interrupted.

The officers seemed startled to see her back so soon. They looked at each other, having a silent conversation between themselves.

“We’re not sure we can let you do that,” Officer Wambach said.

“Well, why not?”

The officers looked at each other again before Officer Rampone spoke up.

“We’ll be right back.”

The officers left the lobby and headed back to their cars, leaving Christen alone. She sat down in one of the lobby chairs and waited for either the officers to come back or the nurse to come get her.

 

***

 

“Well her record is spotless,” Officer Rampone told her partners. She began reading Christen’s information off of the computer screen in her squad car. “Christen Annemarie Press, born on December 29th, 1988. Graduated from Stanford with a master’s degree in psychology. Volunteers a lot at animal shelters and the like in her free time. She works as a therapist for Tobin Heath at an office here in the city. It looks like she’d be more than qualified to take care of Julie.”

“It also seems like the kid likes her more than anyone else so far,” Officer Boxx mentioned.

"Let me tell the station what we know about the missing women, then I'll join you inside. Hopefully, they'll send out a search party tonight."

The others nodded and headed back in to give Christen their approval, but she was gone. They asked the lady at the front desk where she went and figured out that she just went out to get a cup of coffee. Christen returned about half an hour later with a Starbucks cup in her right hand and a plastic bag in her left. She saw the looks that the officers were giving her and decided to explain herself.

“I went out to get coffee, but then I thought about going somewhere to get Julie some clothes. I figured she might like that.”

“Oh, okay,” Officer Wambach approved. Christen was certainly going to treat Julie well.

They resumed their questioning from earlier until they had no more questions to ask. They finished just in time for the officers to receive a call about the other missing women. The officers left to respond to the call, leaving Christen alone in the hospital lobby again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of just a filler chapter so sorry if it was boring. The next chapter will have the results of Julie's check up and some more stuff about the other women who were captured. Might mention more about Tobin, Alex, and Kelley in the next chapter as well.


	3. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie's first night in the hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I went to the game today for my birthday (which is actually on the 14th but that's beside the point) and figured I'd post this today. Enjoy!

_Sometime after Julie was kidnapped, HAO claimed that she’d been in there for a month. She wasn’t sure how HAO knew how many days had gone by. She’d said something about how she could see the light through the trapdoor during the day, but Julie wasn’t so sure. Julie wasn’t even sure how HAO was keeping track of the days. That “day” marking one month was one of the worst days of Julie’s life._

_Two weeks ago, Becky had taken her turn in the room. Julie hated hearing her screams more than anyone else’s because of how nice Becky was to her. After her first time in the room, Becky had talked to her to try and keep her mind off of the pain. Becky always gave her the piece of bread from her meal, no matter what the consequences would be. What really threw Julie off after Becky’s turn two weeks ago, however, was that Becky started giving her half of her oatmeal as well._

_Julie didn’t think much of it at first and just ate what she was given. There was always an awful gnawing sensation in her stomach that just wouldn’t stop, but when she finished, she noticed just how much she’d eaten. She looked over at Becky’s empty bowl before looking at Becky._

_“You didn’t give me all of it, did you?”_

_Becky just shook her head. “Only half.”_

_Julie wasn’t sure how she didn’t notice Becky spooning the oatmeal into her bowl, but now she felt bad for taking the woman’s food._

_“You’ll understand in a few weeks,” Becky said. Her voice was very solemn._

_***_

_Julie did understand, two weeks later when Becky didn’t return after her turn in the room. Her heart dropped when the man walked into the cage room and out of The Layer without the woman. Lindsey did her best to console the blonde because she knew how close she was to Becky. For the first time, Julie was actually looking forward to her time in the room the next time the man came. However, when it was time for her to go into the room, she wanted to leave as soon as she saw a very much alive Becky tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth._

_“You’re okay?” Julie muttered. Becky must have heard her because she nodded._

_The man pushed Julie into a cold metal chair and strapped her down before walking over to ungag Becky._

_“I’ll give you two options, girl,” the man spat in the blonde’s face. “You can either go over there and kill that bitch or you can be tortured until you decide that you want to kill her.”_

_Julie shook her head. “I can’t,” she managed through tears._

_“Julie, it’s okay. Just kill me and you’ll be let go,” Becky said from her spot in the corner. Julie could hear the urgency in her voice._

_“No, I can’t. I can’t kill you, Becky. I could never.”_

_“I see you’ve made your choice then.” The man laughed before backhanding Julie across the face._

_“No, please! Just kill me!” Becky pleaded with the man. “I gave her my rations! It’s my fault!” Julie could see tears forming in the woman’s eyes at the thought of what was about to happen._

_The man walked over and put the gag back in Becky’s mouth. “You’re going to sit here and keep your mouth shut.”_

_He walked back over to where Julie was in her chair and unstrapped her, moving her from the chair to a metal table that was pushed up against the back wall of the room. Her wrists, ankles, midsection, and head were strapped down and the man left to retrieve a bottle from a shelf in the room. He came back with one filled with some sort of blue liquid and picked up a syringe from a tray sitting on a desk next to the metal table. The syringe was filled up halfway with the blue liquid then injected into Julie’s right arm._

_“We’ll start easy. This isn’t going to hurt you, but it will definitely be very annoying.” Julie could hear the smirk in the man’s voice. He turned around and roughly fed Becky her rations before exiting the room, leaving Julie strapped to the table._

Christen was sitting in Julie’s room reading a book and waiting for the doctors to come back with test results when she heard yelling coming down the hall. She couldn’t make out what they were saying so she stood up and stuck her head out the door. Several EMTs passed by pushing five gurneys towards the OR and a nurse came from behind all the madness to check on Julie.

“What’s going on out there?” Christen asked as the nurse.

“The other five women who were with Julie were just brought in,” the nurse responded.

Christen sat back down in her chair. “Do you know anything about her test results yet?”

The nurse shook her head. “I don’t know much but I do know she’ll have to stay here for several weeks for her malnourishment alone. We’ve already started her on a special diet to avoid refeeding syndrome and we’ll probably have to teach her how to tell when she’s hungry or when she’s full. It seems trivial, but someone who has been treated so poorly for such a long time can forget normal functions.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

The nurse smiled sadly. “Would you like me to bring you a cot or something, miss?”

“No, I think I’ll be okay for now.”

The nurse flipped through a couple more papers before leaving the room. She came back shortly with a couple of blankets and a pillow. Christen looked up at her and smiled, thankful that the nurse was so kind.

“Just in case.”

Soon, Christen was left alone in the room with Julie again. She looked over to the blonde’s sleeping form and could see her starting to stir. Christen could see her starting to grip at the sheets on her hospital bed and her heartrate increased dramatically. The drugs had finally worn off and Julie’s peaceful, dreamless slumber was no more.

Julie started screaming, yelling “Becky, No!” over and over again. The nurse that had just been there came rushing into the room to see what was wrong, but Christen motioned for her to stand by the door. She was going to try and calm Julie down herself.

“Julie,” Christen whispered, softly shaking Julie’s shoulder.

Julie didn’t wake up.

“Julie,” Christen said, but this time louder and applying more force to Julie’s shoulder.

The blonde still wouldn’t wake from her nightmare.

“Jules, wake up!”

Julie shot up in bed, tears streaming down her face and breathing ragged. She didn’t recognize where she was and it terrified her. There were wires all over her body and a needle in her arm. It reminded her too much of that hell hole until she looked over and saw Christen standing beside her bed. Everything that happened, both from the nightmare and that night, quickly came rushing back to her and she started sobbing.

Christen kneeled next to the bed and opened her arms for Julie, showing the blonde that she was going to hug her before actually doing so. The brunette didn’t even get to ask permission to hug her before Julie was clinging onto her for dear life and crying into her shoulder. They stayed like that until the nurse left.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Julie shook her head and laid back down, curling up into a ball like she would in her cage after being brought out of The Room. Christen sat there for a minute and played with the woman’s hair. When she thought Julie was asleep, she got up and made her way back to the chair she was sitting in earlier, but she felt a hand on her wrist as she stood up.

“Stay with me,” a blushing Julie whispered.

Christen looked at the dishevelled blonde curled up on the hospital bed. She looked so small and sad that there was no way Christen would be able to turn her down.

The brunette gave a small smile before replying, “Okay.”

She climbed into the hospital bed with Julie, who immediately cuddled up into Christen’s side. It made Christen wonder if one of the women that was held captive with Julie did this to comfort the blonde. Another thing she decided to take note of was to try and talk to Julie about who Becky was. She assumed Becky was important to Julie and might have been one of the women she was held captive with.

Not long after falling asleep again, Julie began to make small whimpering sounds. _This is going to be a long night,_ Christen thought to herself as she rubbed the blonde’s back. To her surprise, this calmed the blonde in her sleep and the whimpering stopped. Christen soon found herself falling asleep as well to Julie’s even breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I kill Becky or nah?


	4. Road to Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie's first day in the hospital and news of what happened to the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this is way overdue and I'm so sorry for that. So much stuff has happened since I posted the last chapter. We had a hurricane, I went to Disney, I had my appendix removed (all within three days), and I've started doing all that stuff seniors have to do before they graduate. Stressful stuff.

_Sexual arousal was something Julie never thought could be such a bad thing, but lying there, strapped to a table, she_ _realised_ _just how awful it could be. Sure, it was annoying at times when she was away from Zach, but it had never been this strong or lasted this long before. She was, hot, wet, and humiliated beyond belief that Becky was seeing her like this._  

 _The drug the man had injected had only taken a few minutes to set in. It started out as a dull inconvenience and became a full blown problem within the hour. She was writhing against the straps holding her down to the table in hopes that maybe she could find some form of relief. Much to her avail, however, the relief never came._  

 _For four hours Julie was aroused, waiting for it to be over. Every once in a while The Man would come down to check on her, just to make sure the drug was still in effect. He laughed every time Julie begged him for release, and made it even worse by touching her in places she would normally never let anyone but Zach touch. If she hadn’t been so desperate, the blonde would have felt violated and humiliated a lot sooner._   

 _Becky cringed at the whole ordeal and wished she had been able to give Julie the privacy she obviously wanted and needed. She felt anxiousness in the pit of her stomach because if this was the lightest thing The Man had planned for Julie, Becky really didn't want to see what else he had in store for the young blonde._ _Being humiliated was something that Julie had mentioned hating before, and Becky guessed that The Man had overheard._  

 _Eventually, The Man made his way into The Room to give Julie what she wanted and make the drug wear off. Becky kept her eyes closed and head turned the entire time so she didn't have to watch the innocent seventeen year old be taken by such a disgusting and perverted old man. Even by doing that she still couldn't block out the moans of pleasure coming from the table just a few feet away from her._  

 _When the moaning stopped and all Becky could hear was some silent shuffling, a pants zipper, and_ _heavy breathing, Becky finally opened her eyes and turned to find a very relieved and upset Julie. The seventeen year old was_ _crying so hard she was shaking and it made Becky’s heart break._ _Her stomach dropped even more when she saw The Man with yet another_ _syringe and drug. This time she knew exactly what it was._  

 _“I hope you got enough sleep last night,” The Man_ _said, “because you sure won't be getting any_ _any_ _time soon_ _.”_  

 _He inserted the syringe into the drug and pulled back the plunger to collect it._ _He flicked the syringe a couple of times to remove air bubbles and inserted the needle into Julie’s arm._  

Julie didn’t know who was wrapped around her when she woke up the next morning, but she knew they needed to get off of her. Her breathing increased rapidly and her heart began racing. She didn’t want anyone to touch her anymore. Her sudden thrashing movements startled Christen awake. 

“Julie?” she asked in a quiet and calm tone in order to avoid startling the blonde anymore. 

“Get off!” Julie yelled, finally pulling away from Christen. 

Nurses rushed in to see what was going on and Christen backed away from the bed as quickly as possible. She wasn't exactly sure about what was going on with Julie, but she had a pretty good idea of what it could be. 

“Jules, you're safe here. No one’s going to hurt you,” Christen reassured, trying to get Julie to calm down. 

The blonde started crying and curled back up in a ball on her hospital bed. Her body shook with the force of her sobs as the nurses checked to make sure the iv was still in place. She knew they weren’t bad people, they hadn't put her in a cage yet, but something about them didn't sit well with her. She didn't trust any of them yet, not even Christen. She wanted Becky there. 

“Where’s Becky?” Julie whimpered. She felt awful for leaving the older blonde and the others behind. 

The nurses looked at each other, not sure if they should tell the patient about the raid that saved the women with her that went down the previous night. Julie deserved to know, but the weren't sure if she could handle the news yet. Two of the women brought in were currently in the ICU, Becky being one of them. Supposedly the man who was arrested for their kidnapping was found beating on her and Lindsey Horan. He mentioned something about them helping the blonde escape and probably would have ended up killing them if help hadn't arrived when it did. 

“She’s in the ICU, along with Lindsey,” one of the nurses finally said. She’d been up to check on both Lindsey and Becky earlier and heard that they both were stabilizing. They would be okay. 

Julie’s heart felt like it had jumped into her throat when she heard the news. 

“The other three women you were with are in rooms just like yours. You can go see them if you want, but I'm not sure if you can see Becky or Lindsey yet.” 

At least Ash, Ali, and HAO were okay, but Julie’s heart hurt for Lindsey and Becky. She wondered what had happened after she left that could have landed them in the ICU. After thinking about it, she didn't really want to know. She didn't think she could live with herself if she got the answer to that question. It was probably her fault they were in there anyway. Her thoughts were interrupted when a small plate of fruit was placed in front of her. 

Julie looked up at the person who had given it to her, a nurse who looked a lot like one of her friends from high school. In fact, it was her best friend, she'd recognize that face anywhere. 

“You know, I never thought I'd see you again,” Crystal laughed, “but here you are, proving me wrong as always.” 

“I didn't think I'd ever see you again either,” Julie said, her first real smile since she left The Layer slowly creeping onto her face. 

There was a long silence as the two took in the fact that they were finally reunited with their partner in crime. 

Crystal had been heartbroken when she found out Julie had gone missing, especially since she was the reason the blonde had gone to her car in the first place. She had gone with Julie to Zach’s baseball game and forgotten to grab her wallet since Julie paid for her to get in. She was supposed to pay for their food at the concession stand and Julie was complaining about being hungry. Julie never would have been taken if Crystal had just remembered to grave her wallet, and the thought haunted the poor girl for a long time after Julie was taken. It made her feel even worse when Julie’s family died looking for her. 

Of course, Crystal had joined the search too, helping the police out in any way she could. She even kept looking after the official had stopped and pronounced her best friend dead. There was just this feeling she had inside that told her that the blonde was still alive somewhere. Eventually, her parents forced her to give up the search and she went off to medical school. 

“What happened to Zach, you know, after I was taken?”  

Crystal looked down at the bed and sighed. 

“He was devastated at first. No one saw him for about a month after you were pronounced dead. Finally, he came back around and finished high school. He ended up meeting some other girl his sophomore year of college and they got married after graduation.”  

Julie’s smile fell. She definitely didn't have feelings for Zach anymore, but she still felt bad about what happened to him when she left. 

"I do have some good news though," Crystal said with a smile. "Your test results show that there's nothing wrong with you except for a couple of bones we're going to have to re-break and set again. We also have to get you back up to a healthy weight, but other than that you'll be fine." 

"That's good," Christen said sleepily from her chair in the room. She thought she'd be quiet and let Julie and Crystal catch up with each other, but she was still tired from her late night the night before. 

"You can go get a cup of coffee and some breakfast if you want," Crystal told Christen. "I can stay here with Jules while you're gone." 

Christen stood up from her chair and thanked Crystal before leaving the room to go down to the cafeteria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all gonna hate me next chapter.


	5. Back from the ICU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie visits Lindsey and Becky when they're released from the ICU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is slightly shorter than the others but I had to end it where I did for the *effect*.

_There was something about caffeine that Julie had always hated._ _She’d drink it all the time, but if there was ever a time she didn't have it for a few days, the next time she drank it she usually wouldn't be able to handle it. Her heart would be beating out of her chest and she’d feel_ _exhausted, yet be unable to sleep. That was exactly what she was feeling right now._  

 _She wasn't sure how long she had been awake, but she was pretty sure that it had been well over twenty four hours since she slept last. It could easily be felt in her tired limbs and easily seen by a sleeping Becky over in the corner. All she wanted to do right now was sleep so she could forget about what had happened earlier with The Man. Granted, she was sure she would end up dreaming about it, but one could only hope._  

 _Sometime later, The Man came back down to check on Julie and bring the others food. He opened each of the cages one at a time to put the bowls in before coming into The Room and feeding Becky._ _He brought a couple of pieces of bread that he allowed Julie to eat before_ _he_ _unstrapped her from the table. Shoving her to the ground, he gave her a few kicks to the ribs before forcing her to stand underneath a box that was hanging from the ceiling. He went over to a switch on the wall that slowly lowered the box onto the blonde's shoulder's._  

 _The box was ridiculously heavy, and Julie knew she wouldn't be able to hold it up for very long. Once the box was completely resting on Julie,_ _he_ _pressed the button beneath the switch so that the box was now freely resting on her. She struggled with the weight of the box above her, adjusting her feet and trying to figure out a position that would make this easier. It didn't help that she was already exhausted and weak from lack of food._  

 _Julie lost track of how long she actually had to stand with the box on her shoulders, but her legs began to shake. Her neck was hurting from the box pressing against it. After a while, she found herself on her knees, her legs no longer able to support her and the weight of the box._  

 _When The Man finally came back down, Julie was seconds away from being completely crushed from the weight. He was in no hurry to press the button, unstrapping Becky from the chair before walking over to the switch and pressing the button again. As soon as he flipped the switch to raise the box, Julie collapsed. Becky knelt down and held onto the crying girl, running her fingers through the blonde's hair and doing her best to calm her down._  

 _Thankfully, the man left them like that, allowing Julie to sleep and let her muscles recover. He was nowhere near done with her._  

A week after being in the hospital, Julie was over halfway to her goal weight that the hospital had set for her, and Becky and Lindsey were out of the ICU. Julie's hands were shaking as she paced back and forth outside of their shared room. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see them yet. She'd already seen Ash, Ali, and HAO a few days ago, but this was different. She was worried that they might be mad at her for leaving them and blame her for being in the ICU for so long. Man, she really wished she hadn't told Christen to stay in her room. 

The door opened and an older man stuck his head out of the room. 

"I saw you pacing outside of the door. Do you need something?" he asked. He seemed a little frustrated and Julie recoiled. 

The man's features instantly softened, realizing that Julie had been held with Lindsey. 

"I'm sorry, come in." 

Julie slowly approached the door and peaked her head in. Becky was fast asleep in her bed, but Lindsey was up talking to someone that Julie guessed was her mom. The two looked over at her and Lindsey smiled. All the blonde's fears about Lindsey being mad suddenly went away and relief flooded her body.  

To put it kindly, Lindsey looked like shit. Her calorie intake had been increased slower than Julie's had because of her time in the ICU, so she was still pretty scrawny. Sunken eyes and a tired smile led Julie to believe that she had been having nightmares too. Something else that Julie didn't notice until Lindsey sat up was the lack of a left arm. Julie started to cry. 

"I'm so sorry I left you guys. This is all my fault!" she sobbed. 

Lindsey motioned for Julie to come closer and she hugged the blonde, scooting over in the bed so that they could lay together. Lindsey's parents got up and left to leave the two alone. 

"It's not your fault, you know. All this happened after you left," Lindsey attempted to comfort her. "Becky isn't mad at you either. We're really just happy to be alive and out of there." 

"What happened after I left?" 

"Well, he chased after you after he woke up. When he realized you got away, he got really angry and stormed back into The Pit. He took Becky first and, well, beat the shit out of her. Long story short, her right leg and arm looks a lot like my left arm. After that he took me and did the same exact thing." 

Julie looked at her friend with sad eyes. She would have stopped it if she could have. 

"I'm not sure if Becky remembers much of it, though. She was pretty hazy when she woke up, hardly remembered her own name. They've been coming in and doing routine check ups on her and asking her different questions to see what she does and doesn't remember. Maybe she got lucky and forgot about everything that happened while we were down there since she hasn't woken up screaming like I have yet." 

Slight stirring coming from the next bed over prompted the two to look over and find Becky awake. The older woman was silently crying and Julie's heart dropped. She got out of Lindsey's bed and quickly made her way over to Becky's. 

"Becky, what's wrong?" she asked. 

"Hurts," is all Becky could manage. 

Lindsey grabbed the remote on her bed and pressed the nurse call button to see if they could get medicine for the poor woman. Julie knelt down beside Becky's bed and ran her fingers through her hair, just like Becky had done for her so many times before. She did everything she could to try and keep Becky's mind off of the pain she was feeling until the nurses arrived to give her another dose of her pain medication. 

It took a few minutes for the medication to actually set in, and Becky was so relieved when it finally dulled her pain. With her mind cleared however, she suddenly realized that there was a stranger in her and Lindsey's room. She pulled away from Julie to get away from her, failing to understand how much it hurt the blonde for her to do that. 

The heart rate on the heart monitor started to climb as Becky began to panic over having a stranger touching her. 

"W-who are you?" her voice was shaky from fear of Julie. 

For once, Becky remembered something from her time in The Layer and her heart rate soared even higher. 

"Stay away from me! Y-y-you hurt me! When we were down there, you hurt me!" 

Julie slowly backed away from Becky's hospital bed, leaving the room and heading back to her own. She was going to have to have a very long talk with Christen about what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops my hand slipped.


	6. Discontinuation

Due to recent events and current personal issues, I will not be finishing this fic. It touches on darker subjects that not very many people enjoy and it just isn't working out anymore. There is a good chance my account will soon be deleted for the personal issues mentioned above. Sorry for the disappointment.

**Author's Note:**

> So I didn't explain Julie's time underground because that'll all be explained as flashbacks in later chapters. I have such a sick and twisted mind so we'll see how this goes.


End file.
